Unglued Reviews

Sacramentoā€™s Hoods are resilient, having survived several lineup changes and moves between record companies over the course of their decade-plus career, and if thereā€™s any quality captured in this latest album, itā€™s their tenacity. Ghetto Blaster is 12 tracks of brutally persistent mosh hardcore.

The title track ā€“ just about the longest song on offer at 2 minutes 15 seconds ā€“ is full of abrasive riffs, thunderous drums, metal-influenced vocals, breakdowns, and no originality whatsoever, although in that last respect itā€™s outdone by the following I Canā€™t Take This, which is even more predictable, right down to the lyrics.

To the bandā€™s credit, though, there are a couple of tracks that break the mould ā€“ a surprising hard rock influence is apparent on both the road anthem Willie Nelson And A 12 Pack and the mildly amusing Donā€™t Fight! Letā€™s Party Tonight!, while the instrumental Endtro benefits from a more creative structure and the absence of the guttural vocals.

But my antipathy towards the album can be summed up by the song Beat Cops. Itā€™s not so much the anti-police attitude thatā€™s offensive as the fact that itā€™s expressed so brainlessly: after about 30 seconds it sound like the lyrics are being made up on the spot ā€“ extremely badly. Itā€™s as if the band revels in their stupidity.

The final two tracks (The King Is Dead and Ernie Cortez) are labelled live recordings, although youā€™d hardly know it to listen to them. But while thereā€™s no evidence of an audience, at least they prove the band (particularly the vocalists) can hold their own outside the studio.

Owen Heitmann